Independent Source Recording

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for recording multiple channels of incoming data. A system and method can receive data streams from a number of sources and distribute the data streams to a number of users. The plurality of data streams are stored in a storage device for later redistribution.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/288,339, filed May 27, 2014, entitled “Independent Source Recording,”which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/870,908,filed Aug. 30, 2010, entitled “Independent Source Recording,” which is acontinuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/129,811, filed May16, 2005, entitled “Independent Source Recording.” This application alsoclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/641,463,filed on Jan. 5, 2005. The disclosures of which are all expresslyincorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This relates in general to computer-telephony integration, and moreparticularly to independent recording of audio streams from multiplesources.

BACKGROUND

Although electronic messaging applications (e.g., electronic mail(e-mail), instant messaging, chat applications) have revolutionizedcommunication, in many business environments the telephone remains thepredominant mode of communication. For example, trading rooms often havepressure to communicate information and receive a response overtelephones in order to be as close to real time as possible and to avoidthe delay introduced by most electronic communication media.

In particular, the activity in trading rooms is considered much more“peaky” than in traditional call centers. Bursts of frenzied activitycan follow major events and these may last from a few seconds to a fewhours. During these periods, the activity levels can be many timeshigher than the average load on the system. A recording system can beused in trading rooms in order to record transactions as they areoccurring. Among other uses, recording systems can be helpful inrecording transactions during frenzied periods of time, and should beable to perform reliably during such times. A reason for the reliabilityof a recording system is because during these brief “panics” traders maytend to ignore their computer systems and rely on the outcry going onaround them to stay in touch. Trades are done verbally and scribbleddown or remembered so that when the market calms down again, they can beentered into the computer systems. This can cause errors to arise.

Thus, a recording system can help to sort out the trades that occurred.As one example of a previous recording approach, recording capacity wasconnected to each trading desk rather than to the trunks entering orleaving the building. This is at least in part because the unusualtopology of trading room systems (having more lines out of the buildingthan there are desks) makes it more economical to connect recordingcapacity to each trading desk, and the major trading room system vendorshave provided connectivity points to support such an arrangement.

Traditionally, recording systems have been priced according to thenumber of recording channels —which in a trading room system could allbe live at once. This is because digital signal processing requirements,storage requirements, and cabling and interfacing costs have beenproportional to the number of channels being recorded. Recording systemshave been developed to minimize the channels being recorded by mixingtogether the data streams received by each trader. This led to thedevelopment of recording systems capable of mixing up to 8 inputchannels into a single composite recording channel. The techniques usedfor this included normalizing the signals with automatic gain control,mixing and then compressing the resultant signal.

Because the mistakes and disputes that arise within a recording systemcan be due to over-hearing or mis-hearing, the availability and qualityof the recording can be used in resolving the dispute correctly. As anillustration, in a compliance recording environment, those data streamsthat could have been heard and therefore acted upon are recorded. Theseitems can include speech not originally intended for thehandset/microphone that it was heard on—e.g., trader hears “Buy” andacts on it even though it was being shouted into the other handset.Also, such recording systems were used to record even the first syllableof each “call”—since this call may be just a single word, shouted to theother party. Thus, trading room peculiarities led to, among otherthings, recording systems which were deliberately over-sensitive andhence recorded much low level audio that may well be just backgroundnoise as well as recording the main conversation on a line. Moreover,some recording systems used look-ahead buffers which enabled the systemto filter out short spikes of electrical or acoustic noise, while stillrecording audio longer than a few tens of milliseconds.

SUMMARY

In accordance with the teachings provided herein, systems and methodsfor operation upon data processing devices are provided in order toovercome one or more of the aforementioned disadvantages or otherdisadvantages concerning recording multiple channels of incoming data.As an example of a system and method, multiple channels of incoming data(e.g., audio data) can be independently recorded, while reducing thenumber of superfluous copies of the multiple channels of incoming data.As another example, a system and method can be configured to provide forrecording mixer settings for each of a number of users, such that theaudio heard by each of the users can be recreated upon playback.

As another example, a device can be configured for recording multiplechannels of incoming data. The device can receive audio, video and otherdata streams from a number of sources and distribute the data streams tocomputers based upon identifiers (e.g., addresses) associated with theworkstations. The device reproduces the plurality of data streams, andtransmits the data streams along with a recipient address forindependent storage in a storage device. One or more workstationaddresses are also stored with a data stream in order to determine theoriginal recipient(s) of the data stream. Stored data streams areretrieved from the storage device through use of a recipient workstationaddress that is stored with a data stream and are provided based upon arequest.

As another illustration, a system and method can be configured toreceive multiple audio sources, the audio sources being respectivelyassociated with inputs and outputs from the plurality of users;distribute the plurality of audio ‘sources respectively to workstationsassociated with the users; and, record the plurality of sources forsubsequent playback, thereby reducing superfluous recordings of aparticular source among the plurality of audio sources.

One or more computer readable media can be used that contain softwareprogram code for recording voice traffic associated with a plurality ofoperator workstations. For example, a computer readable medium cancontain distribution logic that is configured to receive multiple audiostreams, the audio streams being associated with at least one of anumber of operators. Distribution logic can further be configured todistribute the audio streams to those operators associated with theplurality of audio streams. Recording logic on the medium can beconfigured to reproduce the audio streams and record the audio streamsindependently for subsequent playback, thereby avoiding the creation ofa number of superfluous copies of the plurality of audio streams.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1 and 2 are block diagrams illustrating an example of a tradingroom environment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a workstationarchitecture.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a serverarchitecture.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a server architecture.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process forindependently recording source data.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an alternative embodiment of aprocess for independently recording source data.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an embodiment of a process forreplaying stored data streams.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a first alternative embodiment of aprocess for replaying stored data streams.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a second alternative embodiment of aprocess for replaying stored data streams.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

FIG. 1 illustrates a configuration 100 of a trading room environment.Within the trading room environment, configuration 100 can include anumber of sources 110 a-c, which can send content to a number of servers120 a-c via a network 130. However, it should be understood that theconfiguration 100 can be used with many other environments, such as acall center environment.

Servers 120 a-c can include recording logic for tapping the streams ofdata passing through servers 120 a-c, as well as distribution logic fordistributing the signals coming into servers 120 a-c. Recording logiccan communicate with the storage system 140 via the network 130.

As shown in FIG. 2, upon a server 120 receiving source data streams, theserver 120 can distribute the data streams out to a number ofworkstations 210 a-b (e.g., turrets or terminals). The workstations canreside on a user's desk in one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thetrader uses the workstation to consummate trades, such as, for example,stock trades, commodity trades, bond trades, etc. However, it should beunderstood that a workstation can have many different types ofconfigurations. As an illustration, a workstation can comprise acombination of the personal computer residing on the trader's desk andthe turret (e.g. telephone system) that the trader uses to send orreceive information to or from outside sources. It should be noted thata workstation can be the turret alone.

As mentioned above, this type of trading is subject to high volumepeaks, which can occur shortly after the release of information.Moreover, because potentially large amounts of money are at stake, theserver and recording logic can be configured to be reliable. Forexample, the server and recording logic can be configured such that aportion of the system could be broken, while still enabling the serverand recording logic to operate properly.

Distribution software on the server can be configured to distribute anumber of data streams to software installed and running on the users'workstations. While some of the data streams can be broadcast ormulticast type data streams which are sent to the workstations connectedto the server, other data streams can be addressed to a particular user.The former can be the case for newscasts, such as, for example, HeadlineNews™ supplied by CNN, of Atlanta, Ga., while the latter can be the casewith sources such as telephone calls. The sources can comprise myriaddifferent entities. In the trading room environment for example, thesource can be Headline News™, Lloyd's of London, a brokerage house, aclearing house, etc.

Distribution logic can be used on a server for sending information fromthe users on workstations 210 a-b to various sources via the network.For example, the server can receive messages from the workstations 210a-b, translate the messages, and if necessary, send the informationacross the network 130 to a source 110. These messages, for example, candescribe an outbound data stream, such as an audio data stream. Itshould be noted that the data stream can appear continuous to thetrader, though it may actually be transformed into messages (e.g.packets). However, the messages could also be a call connection request,or some other sort of data transfer. Translation of data can occur whenthe connection is, for example, a telephone call, because the messagemay need to be converted from an internet protocol (IP) which transportsthe messages from the workstation to the server to another protocol,such as SS7 (C7), for transport across a public switched telephonenetwork (PSTN).

Recording logic can be used to tap the individual source informationstreams passing through the server. Recording logic sends parallelsignals to the storage system. The storage system in this embodimentcomprises two storage areas, primary storage, and secondary storage. Theprimary storage receives the data streams from recording logic andimmediately writes each of the data streams to memory independently. Thesecondary storage receives each of the data streams from recordinglogic, similarly to the primary storage. In addition to the datastreams, the secondary storage can receive a “heartbeat” signal from theprimary storage. The heartbeat signal indicates that the primary storageis functioning properly. In one embodiment of the present disclosure,the secondary storage writes each of the data streams to a buffer(volatile memory). After a period of time of receiving the data streamsand receiving the heartbeat signal from the primary storage for the fullduration of that period of time, the secondary storage can be configuredto delete (or rewrite) the buffer.

However, if the heartbeat signal is not received by the secondarystorage, the secondary storage may begin writing the data directly tonon-volatile memory, until the heartbeat signal returns. An alarm mayalso be raised so that the problem with the primary storage system canbe fixed quickly. Such an arrangement provides the storage system withreliable storage. Many different types of storage devices can be usedfor archiving large amounts of data, such as Centera, available from EMCCorp. of Hopkinton, Mass., or Tivoli Storage Manager available from IBMCorp. of White Plains, N.Y. Alternatively, it should be noted that eachof a primary storage area and a secondary storage area could immediatelywrite the data to non-volatile storage, and at some later point thesecondary storage could delete the data upon determining that the datastreams were successfully written by the primary storage area. Also, itshould be noted that a storage area network (SAN) may be used as thestorage system 140.

As described above, an operating environment can be a “trading room” fortrading stocks, bonds, commodities, etc., in which a trader is takingand/or making calls to other traders, brokerages, banks, etc., which mayhave trades to make (buy or sell), information about accounts,information about trades, etc. In such an environment, it would not beuncommon for a calling agent, during the course of a few seconds, tomake several calls, each of extremely short duration. In order toprovide consistent and acceptable service to such traders, a system canbe configured to record the activities at each trader desk, in order toproperly sort out trades, and even allocate fault correctly by enablingplayback of a session including peak activity.

A workstation 210, as shown in FIG. 3, can include hardware and softwaremounted thereon. A workstation can be a computer, such as a turretavailable from IPC Information Systems, LLC of New York, N.Y. Thehardware used can include a processor 305 which can be used to operate areal-time operating system or an industry standard O/S such as Windows.The hardware can further include a memory 310, which may include a harddisk 325, and I/O interfaces 315, connected together by a bus 320.Different hardware configurations may be used without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention.

An example of a server can include a terminal interface card (TIC) 120such as available from IPC Information Systems, LLC of New York, N.Y.,as part of an overall trading system. The terminal interface card 120can receive and distribute data for up to 16 workstations 210. Moreover,each workstation 210 can receive up to 36 channels of data. Further, thedata streams sent to the workstation 210 can be received from a varietyof different sources. For example, in some cases, a user may receive asignal from a private virtual circuit (PVC) while communicating withanother brokerage house, a Headline News™ or Bloomberg™ stream to keeptrack of news affecting the markets, a telephone call, among manyothers. Each of these data streams may potentially be addressed to aparticular trader workstation 210. Thus, the server 120 also acts as acentralized router for the data streams as they enter the trading floorand are distributed to the correct workstations 210.

With reference to FIG. 3, memory 310 includes an operating system 330which is executable by the workstation 210. Memory 310 further includesa trading room application 340 which is operable to be executed by theprocessor 305. As is known in the art, the trading room application 340can include a graphical user interface having button representations.Upon selection, these button representations connect the workstation toa telephone line. The telephone line can be directly connected to acounterparty (e.g. a source) or can automatically dial a pre-definednumber based on the button representation pressed. Moreover, thegraphical user interface of the trading room application 340 includesinput for a plurality of microphones, a mixer having inputs which enablethe trader to mix the incoming audio channels and adjust output levelsof the incoming audio channels for output on one of severalloudspeakers.

As may be understood, multiple applications 330,335,340 may be used bythe trader on the workstation 210 in the course of trading. Aconfiguration of the operating system 330 can include systems such as aLinux operating system available from RedHat, Inc. of Raleigh, N.C.

The trader's workstation 210 can be connected to many different types ofperipheral devices 345-365 that enable the trader to efficiently performhis/her job. The peripheral devices can include multiple telephonehandsets 345 a-d. It should be noted that the telephone handsetperipherals 345 a-d can include both a speaker and a microphone, andtherefore enable bi-directional communication with remote users via theserver.

Other peripheral devices can be uni-directional peripheral devices 350,355. These are uni-directional devices in the sense that they eithertransmit data or they receive data, but cannot do both. For example, amicrophone 350 connected to the workstation 210 enables the trader tocommunicate information, often to other traders on the floor, via theserver 120. However, the microphone 350 does not enable the trader toreceive a data stream from other traders. Similarly, a loudspeaker 355enables the trader to receive incoming data streams from other tradersvia the server, but does not enable the trader to send information tothe other traders.

Still other peripheral devices such as a volume/level control 360 enablethe trader to adjust the volume and settings of the signal sent to theloudspeaker(s) 355. A source indicator 365 driven by the trading roomapplication 340 alerts the trader to an active data stream. An activedata stream, for example, could be a data stream that has a signal beinggenerated to the speaker by the trading room application 340. The sourceindicator can indicate that an amplitude of the signal exceeds a squelchthreshold. It should be noted that the volume/level control 360 and thesource indicator in various embodiments of the present disclosure can beimplemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof.

With reference to FIG. 4, hardware used on the rack 405 can include anumber of terminal interface cards 420, available from IPC InformationSystems, LLC of New York, N.Y. Many terminal interface cards 120 a-c canbe included in a rack 405, each one supporting 16 workstation turretsand switching the audio to and from them. The rack provides power toeach of the terminal interface cards and a data bus (not shown) withwhich to communicate with the rest of the system. The terminal interfacecard 120 operates to route the incoming data streams, and will bediscussed in further detail with reference to FIG. 5. Different hardwareconfigurations may be used without departing from the spirit and scopeof the present invention.

With continued reference to FIG. 4, the 110 interfaces includeinterfaces to a network. An embodiment of the present disclosure caninclude interfaces to a packet-switched network 450. The packet-switchednetwork 450 receives the source data via several line cards, which areoperable to interface, in various embodiments, to a private virtualcircuit, the PSTN, and fixed tuner source. Each of these devices sourceat least one audio data stream for one of the workstations 210 coupledto the server 120.

The server receives the sources, determines the correct recipient(s) ofthe audio data stream, and routes the audio data stream to that/thoserecipient(s) via a workstation interface, as is known in the art (e.g.,Ethernet). The server also taps each of the audio data streams inaccordance with configuration data contained in the data store 540, andsends the data to a storage system 140 via a storage system interface.Although shown separate, the storage system interface and packetswitched network interface, in various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, are the same network interface. Furthermore, in variousembodiments of the present disclosure, the server 120 is operable tointerface with the storage system to subsequently retrieve data for oneof the traders. In such an embodiment, the storage system itself wouldact as a data source for the workstation.

A terminal interface card 120 can include the signal processing powerwhich enables the card 120 to support audio transmission to and from theturrets that it controls. The terminal interface card 120 is responsiblefor receiving the incoming data streams from each of the myriad datasources, and routing the data streams to the appropriate destination.Furthermore, the terminal interface card 120 includes software operableto tap the data streams and send each of the data streams independentlyto a storage system. The terminal interface card 120 further includessoftware for compression of the data streams prior to sending the datastreams to the storage system and/or to the workstations 210.

With reference to FIG. 5, the terminal interface card 120 can include adigital signal processor (DSP) 505, I/O 510 and memory 515 coupledtogether by a data bus 520. The DSP 505 can be responsible for thesignal processing power of the terminal interface card 120. It should beunderstood that different hardware configurations may be used withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

With continued reference to FIG. 5, memory 515 includes an operatingsystem 520 which is executable by the server 120. The operating system520 can be a lightweight real-time kernel. Memory 515 further includescompression software 525, distribution server software 530 and recordingserver software 535, each of which are executable by the DSP 505. TheI/O 510 of the terminal interface card 120 further includes a networkinterface device, such as an Ethernet interface. As is known in the art,the network interface device can include driver software such as thedistribution server software 530, enabling the server to interface withthe network interface 510. The system configuration data store 540includes the information which 30 facilitates a recording server 530 totap the data streams passing through the terminal interface card 120,and send the data streams to a storage system 140, as is known in theart. The distribution server software 530 enables the terminal interfacecard 120 to distribute the incoming and outgoing data streams to any ofa number of workstations 210. The recording server software 535 enablesthe terminal interface card 120 to tap each of the incoming and outgoingdata streams, and send the tapped data streams to a storage system 140in accordance with the data from the system configuration data store540.

The compression software 525 enables the terminal interface card tocompress the incoming and outgoing data streams to use less bandwidth intransferring each of the data streams. Moreover, the compressed datastreams sent to the storage system 140 occupy less disk space than datastreams which have not been compressed, and therefore remove some of theprocessing burden from the storage system 140. It should be noted thateach data stream is recorded such that both the destination and sourceare recorded for each of the individual data streams. Previously asystem would have recorded an audio stream purely because it wasdestined for, e.g. speaker 1, of turret/workstation.

In various embodiments of this disclosure, the stream is recorded if itcomes from a source that is not already being recorded on one or twoother recording channels. A stream could also be recorded if it comesfrom a source that is not already being recorded on “n” recordingchannels, where n can be configurable based on the degree of faulttolerance desired). If data from a particular source is already beingrecorded on “n” recording channels, the storage system 140 can decide tonot store the data again. Instead, the storage system 140 merely notesthat this speaker and/or destination was connected to a particularsource at a particular time. When a user (e.g., a trader) requestsreplay of a particular speaker at a particular time, the storage system140 retrieves the source associated with the audio from that speaker andplays it from the channel that the storage system 140 did record. It isthe reliable and immediate inclusion of the source identification withinthe communication between terminal interface card 120 and storage system140 that enables the storage system 140 to make decisions to effectivelydispose of audio that would previously have been recorded. This audiowould have been recorded because the storage system could not have beensure that the audio was being recorded already, since the source of theaudio in real time may be unknown.

It should be recognized that there is a distinction between a telephonecall (e.g., two streams: one TX one RX) and an audio stream(uni-directional). The storage system 140 replays a recording bysearching for the individual streams that made up a call. Hence byrecording each handset's mouthpiece, all microphone inputs and eachexternal line input separately and without redundancy, the storagesystem 140 does not record speaker outputs or handset outputs. However,the storage system and a mixer can reconstitute any call by mixing theappropriate inputs/sources at the levels recorded. Hence, the source ofevery audio stream is recorded (e.g., immediately and reliably). This isachieved by using the terminal interface card to pass the sourceinformation along with the audio streams themselves. Thus, for example,when the storage system 140 receives the audio streams and the dataabout those audio streams, the storage system 140 can be used to performrecording optimization as disclosed herein.

With reference to FIG. 6, shown is a flowchart illustrating anembodiment of a process used by the server 120 of the presentdisclosure. The process begins at step 600. In step 610, the server 120receives data 620 from the data sources. As described above, each of thedata sources 110 are operable to produce at least one audio data streamfor a workstation. The data stream from the data sources 110 in variousembodiments of the present disclosure can arrive in a variety of audioformats including G.711 (A or μ-law), G.729 over a variety of streamingmethods including Voice over IP (VoIP) or synchronous E1 or T1 pipes ormultiplexed audio buses such as SCSA or MVIP. Based on the variousformats, the server includes software operable to handle each of theformats, as known to those skilled in the art.

At step 630, the server 120 copies each of the data streams for a userand sends the copy 640 to a storage system 140. As described above, thecopy process of step 630 can involve reproducing (e.g. tapping) theincoming data stream such that a transient copy 640 of the data streamis made to memory 410 on the server 120. The transient copy 640 is thentransferred via an IP network, in an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, to a storage system 140. Upon transferring the transientcopy 640, the server 120 removes the transient copy from memory 410.Optionally, it may hold onto the transient copy until positiveacknowledgement of receipt is received e.g. TCP/IP acknowledgment.

Alternatively it may use a fire and forget scheme such as user datagramprotocol (UDP). In step 660, the server 120 distributes the data streamsto recipient workstation(s) 210. The data streams 670 can be distributedafter inspecting the incoming data streams 620, and determining forwhich terminal/workstation 210 each of the data streams 620 is intended.As mentioned above, some of the data streams 620 are broadcast. Itshould be noted that the term broadcast is used herein to refer to thetransmission of source data to multiple recipients. However, the termbroadcast is not intended to limit the scope of the disclosed systemsand methods to a broadcast wherein the same signal is being sent tomultiple machines.

Instead, broadcast as used herein can encompass the source data beingsent as multiple point-to-point transmission to multiple workstations.Alternatively, the source data could be multicast to the multipleworkstations. It should be further noted that the broadcast signals aredistributed from the terminal interface card 120 as individual packetsaddressed to the workstations 210 which are connected to the terminalinterface card 120. Other data streams 620, such as a telephone call,are recipient specific. In trading rooms, many telephone calls can bemulti-party, with several traders listening and/or talking. The datastreams 670 are transferred to the workstations via an IP network. Itshould be noted that any type of addressable network protocol andtopology could be used in conjunction with the present disclosure. Atstep 680, the process ends.

With reference to FIG. 7, shown is a flowchart illustrating a processused in an embodiment of the present disclosure. The process begins atstep 700. In step 705, the server 120 receives numerous data streams 710from a variety of data sources. As noted above, in some embodiments ofthe present disclosure, the data streams 710 are received via an IPnetwork. However, in other embodiments, the data streams 710 arereceived via any of a variety of network protocol and topology. In yetfurther embodiments of the present disclosure, the data streams arereceived via a fixed tuner source operable to tune television, radio,etc.

After receiving the data stream the server 120 independently copies eachof the data streams 710 received, as shown in step 715. The server 120can make a transient copy of the data streams 710, and compresses thetransient copy of each the data streams. Upon compressing the datastreams, the server 120 transmits the transient compressed copy of eachof the copied data streams 720 to a storage system 140. As describedabove, the storage system can have a mirrored architecture, thusremoving the importance of the server sending the copied data streams720 to two different storage systems. However, as further describedabove, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, it remainsbeneficial for the server 120 to copy the data streams in parallel, suchthat if one storage system goes down, the other storage system willstore the data. It should be understood that the data streams arefurther stored with a time stamp, and addresses to whom the data streamswere being distributed to. Thus, each of the data streams sent to aparticular user can be retrieved and evaluated as needed.

In step 725, the server 120 retrieves the workstation settings 730 fromthe system configuration data store 430. It should be recognized that invarious architectures of the present disclosure, the workstationsettings 730 are distributed, in that each of the workstations 210stores its own settings, rather than a centralized architecturedescribed with respect to FIG. 7. In such a distributed architecture,the settings would be retrieved from the individual workstations, aswould be understood in the art, rather than from a centralized systemconfiguration data store 430. Upon retrieving the workstation settings730, the server sends the workstation settings 740 to the storage system140, as shown in step 735. The workstation settings 740 are stored suchthat they may later be retrieved and applied to the stored data streams720. These stored settings also include a timestamp, such that thesesettings can accurately recreate a mixed data stream as heard by a user.

The server 120 then mixes the data streams in accordance with theworkstation settings 730, as shown in step 745. The mixer can receive anumber of level settings 730 from the workstation user, and mixes thedata streams together at the levels specified by the settings 730,creating a mixed data stream. The server 120 then routes the mixed datastream 755 to a workstation 210, as shown in step 750. It should beunderstood that several mixed data streams 755 can be produced, and inone embodiment of the present disclosure, one of the data streams 755 iscommunicated to an associated workstation 210 in a specific time slotfor the associated workstation 210. However, it should be recognizedthat there exist numerous multiplexing schemes in addition to the timedivision scheme described above, such as for example, frequency divisionand code division, among others. The process ends at step 760.

With reference to FIG. 8, shown is a flowchart illustrating anembodiment of a process used by a server for playback of a stored datastream. The process begins at step 800. At step 810, the server receivesa request 820 from a workstation 210 to review a previously storedrecording. Such a request can indicate a time period for which the userwould like to retrieve a data stream related to his or her workstationalong with the address of the workstation. However, it should also berecognized that a supervisor, or other authorized personnel, couldretrieve a data stream associated with any of the users. Upon receivinga request 820 to review a particular stored recording, the serverretrieves the requested recorded data 850 from the storage system 140,as shown in step 840. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, thestorage system 140 could begin streaming the data to the server 120,thus acting as a source sending another information data stream to theuser.

Alternatively, the storage system 140 could transfer the entire file forthe specified range to the server 120, and the server could reconstructthe data stream for a particular user. The transfer is often performedover an IP network, however, it should be understood that any physicalor logical network layout could be used.

In step 880, the server 120 creates the data stream 870 and sends thedata stream 870 to the requesting workstation 210. The creation of thedata stream 870 can entail assembling and decompressing the time-stampedpackets retrieved from the storage system 140 and sending the packets tothe workstation 210. The process ends at step 890.

With reference to FIG. 9, shown is a flowchart illustrating anembodiment of a process used by the server to retrieve stored datastreams to present to the user. The process begins at step 900. At step905, the server 120 receives a request 910 from a workstation 210 toreview a previously stored recording. Such a request can indicate a timeperiod for which the user would like to retrieve a data stream relatedto his or her workstation along with an address associated with theworkstation. However, it should also be recognized that a supervisor, orother authorized personnel, could retrieve a data stream associated withany of the users.

Upon receiving a request 910 to review a particular stored recording,the server 120 retrieves the requested recorded data 920 from thestorage system 140, as shown in step 915. In some embodiments of thepresent disclosure, the storage system 140 could begin streaming thedata to the server 120, thus acting as a source sending anotherinformation data stream to the user. Alternatively, the storage system140 could transfer the entire file for the specified range to the server120, and the server could reconstruct the data stream for a particularuser. The transfer is often performed over an IP network, however, itshould be understood that any physical or logical network layout couldbe used with respect to the present disclosure. In step 925, the server120 retrieves the stored settings 930 from the storage system 140. Instep 930, the server 120 mixes the data stream in accordance with thesettings 930 retrieved from the storage system 140. The settings 930 cancomprise a level setting associated with each of the data streams 920retrieved.

Thus, each of the data streams associated with the particularworkstation requested will be mixed into a mixed data stream at thelevel specified by the settings 930. Thus, the mixed data stream issubstantially similar to an original data stream heard by the user inreal-time. In step 935, the server 120 transfers the reconstructed mixeddata stream 940 to the workstation 210. The transfer of thereconstructed mixed data stream 940 can occur over an IP network,however, it should be recognized that there exist many logical andphysical network topologies which are suitable for such an application,each of which is intended to be included within the scope of the presentdisclosure. The process ends at step 945.

With reference to FIG. 10, shown is a flowchart illustrating anotherembodiment of a process used by the server to retrieve stored datastreams to present to the user. The process begins at step 1000. At step1005, the server 120 receives a request 1010 from a workstation 210 toreview a previously stored recording. Such a request can indicate a timeperiod for which the user would like to retrieve a data stream relatedto his or her workstation. However, it should also be recognized that asupervisor, or other authorized personnel, could retrieve a data streamassociated with any of the users. Upon receiving a request 1010 toreview a particular stored record, the server 120 retrieves therequested recorded data 1020 from the storage system 140, as shown instep 1015.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the storage system 140could begin streaming the data to the server 120, thus acting as asource sending another information data stream to the user.Alternatively, the storage system 140 could transfer the entire file forthe specified range to the server 120, and the server could reconstructthe data stream for a particular user. The transfer is often performedover an IP network, however, it should be understood that any physicalor logical network layout could be used with respect to the presentdisclosure. In step 1025, the server 120 retrieves the stored settings1030 from the storage system 140. It should be recognized that in bothcases, the recorded data and the settings data remain stored on thestorage system 140, and that a copy is transferred to the server 120over a network.

In step 1035, the server 120 determines whether the user wishes tochange any of the settings associated with the playback of the retrieveddata streams. If the user does not desire to change any of the settings,the server 120 mixes the retrieved data streams 1020 in accordance withthe retrieved settings 1030, as shown in step 1040. In step 1045, theserver 120 transfers the mixed data stream 1050 to the workstation 210.The process ends at step 1055.

However, if the user does desire to change the settings from thoseretrieved from the storage system 140, the server 120 retrieves newsettings 1065 from the workstation 210, as shown in step 1060. Theserver 120 then mixes the retrieved data streams 1020 in accordance withthe new settings 1065, as shown in step 1040. In step 1045, the server120 transfers the mixed data stream 1050 to the workstation 210. Theprocess ends at step 1055.

The embodiments described above are given as illustrative examples only.It will be readily appreciated that many deviations may be made from thespecific embodiments disclosed in this specification without departingfrom the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to bedetermined by claims. As an illustration of the wide scope of thesystems and methods disclosed herein, a system and method can beconfigured for greater reliability than previous systems that included atypical computer-telephony integration link.

It should be noted that previous systems included a computer-telephonyintegration (CTI) link from a turret to a server which logged calldetail information to a database. However, because the CTI link occursvia a different path than the data streams, the CTI link is subject toindependent delay or failure. Therefore, the call detail informationlogged by the CTI link is difficult to correlate with the data streams,and is subject to failure independently from the data stream logging.

As another illustration of the wide scope of the systems and methods ofthe disclosure, the systems and methods may be provided on manydifferent types of computer-readable media including computer storagemechanisms (e.g., CD-ROM, diskette, RAM, flash memory, computer's harddrive, etc.) that contain instructions for use in execution by aprocessor to perform the operations of the methods and implement thesystems described herein.

As another illustration of the wide scope of the systems and methods ofthe disclosure, a system and method can be configured to incorporateupgrades in a terminal interface card. For example, increased processingpower can enable the terminal interface card to perform many functionsnot previously performed at the distribution level of the architecture.Previously, recording systems relied on the workstations/turrets toimplement much of the processing (mixing, compression, recording, etc.)involved in the recording system. The increased processing power of theterminal interface card can enable the terminal interface card toperform many of the functions previously performed by theworkstation/turret, such as, for example, compression and recordingfunctions in addition to the distribution functions previouslyimplemented.

In another illustration of the wide scope of systems and methods of thedisclosure, previous systems mixed the data streams prior to compressionand storage. Because previous systems mixed the data streams prior tocompression, algorithms using higher compression ratios were notefficient in compressing the mixed data signal. The difficulty withusing these advanced algorithms arises from the compression model used.The compression model for these advanced algorithms is based on thecompression programmer's expectations of the types of sounds that willbe encountered. In particular, the advanced algorithms have modeled thehuman voice, such that the compression algorithm expects to hear asingle speaker at a time. When many voice signals are mixed together,the algorithm encounters unexpected sounds/notes and rapidly varyingsignal levels and background noise. Thus, because the compression modelis based on a single voice, there is no capacity in the software tomodel some of the sounds encountered when multiple signals are mixedtogether. However, a system and method can be configured to reduce thisproblem and sometimes eliminate the problem when each of the datastreams is separately or independently compressed. Each data stream cancomprise fewer voices, and therefore present less opportunity for thecompression algorithm to encounter unexpected sounds which cannot beproperly modeled by the advanced compression algorithm. In oneembodiment of the present disclosure an International TelecommunicationsUnion-Telecom (ITU-T) G.729 standard can be used for compressing thedata streams. The use of such advanced compression algorithms furtherenables the storage system 140 to conserve storage capacity withoutsignificantly reducing audio quality.

As another example, a system and method can be configured to userecording logic that enables a recording system to tap the individualsource information streams passing through the server. Previously, thesignals were mixed by the server before being made available to therecording system. However, tapping the signal after the mixing of thedata streams is inefficient because it leads to manysuperfluous/redundant copies of the same information. Moreover, thequality of such a signal is compromised when compressed using many highcompression-ratio algorithms, because the current state of the art incompression models the compression algorithm on human voice or tones.While the signal may include only human voices, several voices on top ofeach other can create sounds that cannot be efficiently and accuratelycompressed by state of the art compression technologies because of thepotential presence of multiple formant frequencies which can confuse thecompression algorithm.

It is noted that the flowchart steps describing computer processes,computer components, software, etc. may be connected directly orindirectly to the other steps such that they enable the flow of theprocess described herein. In some embodiments of the present disclosure,the term processor includes code that performs software-type functions.This code can take the form of a subroutine, a software task, scriptinglanguages, or any other type of code. It should be understood thatprocessing can be implemented using a distributed architecture.

Thus, the software code could be spread across multiple machines invarious embodiments of the present disclosure. The systems' and methods'data (e.g., associations, mappings, etc.) described herein may be storedand implemented in one or more different types of computer-implementedways, such as different types of storage devices and programmingconstructs (e.g., data stores, RAM, ROM, Flash memory, flat files,databases, programming data structures, programming variables, IF-THEN(or similar type) statement constructs, etc.).

It is noted that data structures describe formats for use in organizingand storing data in databases, programs, memory, or othercomputer-readable media for use by a computer program. It should befurther noted that the term “logic” (e.g., recording logic) can refer to(1) a process running on a particular piece, or across particularpieces, of hardware, (2) a particular piece of hardware, or acombination of (1) or (2) as the application at hand allows. The systemsand methods may include data signals conveyed via networks (e.g., localarea network, wide area network, internet, etc.), fiber optic medium,carrier waves, wireless networks, etc. for communication with one ormore data processing devices. The data signals can carry any or all ofthe data disclosed herein that is provided to or from a device.

What is claimed is:
 1. A server for playback of a stored audiorecording, the server comprising: a storage subsystem that stores in anon-volatile memory an audio recording associated with a workstation andstores recording mixer settings associated with the workstation, whereinthe audio recording comprises a plurality of independently stored datastreams that are associated with the workstation, wherein the recordingmixer settings associated with the workstation comprise level settingsassociated with each of the retrieved data streams for mixing theretrieved data streams together; a terminal interface card that receivesa request from the workstation to play back the stored audio recording;and a mixing subsystem that, upon receiving the request to review thepreviously stored audio recording: retrieves from the storage subsystemthe plurality of independently stored data streams that are associatedwith the workstation and the recording mixer settings that areassociated with the workstation; and reconstructs the stored audiorecording by mixing each of the retrieved data streams into a mixed datastream at the level specified by the recording mixer settings, whereinthe mixed data stream is substantially similar to an original datastream that was previously heard in real-time by a user of theworkstation; wherein the terminal interface card transfers the mixeddata stream from the server to the workstation to play back what theuser of the workstation previously heard in real-time.
 2. The system ofclaim 1 further comprising a duplication subsystem that creates anindependent copy of each data stream in real time as the data stream isbeing routed to the workstation, wherein the audio recording is storedon the storage system by at least storing the independent copy in thestorage subsystem to avoid superfluous copies of the data stream.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the server creates a transient copy of theindependent copy which is compressed and forwarded to the storagesubsystem.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein each of a plurality ofworkstations individually stores its own unique recorder mixer settings.5. The system of claim 1, wherein the system does not include acomputer-telephony integration (CTI) link.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the system includes a computer-telephony integration (CTI) link.7. A method for playback of a stored audio recording, the methodcomprising: receiving a request from a workstation to play back a storedaudio recording, wherein the audio recording is stored on a storagesystem and comprises a plurality of independently stored data streamsassociated with the workstation; upon receiving the request to reviewthe previously stored audio recording, retrieving from a storage system:(a) the plurality of independently stored data streams that areassociated with the workstation, and (b) recording mixer settings thatare associated with the workstation, wherein the recording mixersettings comprise level settings associated with each of the retrieveddata streams for mixing the retrieved data streams together;reconstructing the stored audio recording by mixing each of theretrieved data streams into a mixed data stream at the level specifiedby the recording mixer settings, wherein the mixed data stream issubstantially similar to an original data stream that was previouslyheard in real-time by a user of the workstation; and transferring themixed data stream from the server to the workstation to play back whatthe user of the workstation previously heard in real-time.
 8. The methodof claim 7, wherein the audio recording is stored on the storage systemby at least creating an independent copy of each data stream in realtime as the data stream is being routed to the workstation, and storingthe independent copy to avoid superfluous copies of the data stream. 9.The method of claim 8, further comprising creating a transient copy ofthe independent copy that is compressed and forwarded to the storagesystem.
 10. The method of claim 7, further comprising storing uniquemixed recorder settings at each of a plurality of workstations.
 11. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the method does not employ acomputer-telephony integration (CTI) link.
 12. The method of claim 7,wherein the method employs a computer-telephony integration (CTI) link.13. A system for playback of a stored audio recording, the systemcomprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, thememory storing instructions which when executed by the processor causethe system to perform a method comprising: receiving a request from aworkstation to play back a stored audio recording, wherein the audiorecording is stored on a storage system and comprises a plurality ofindependently stored data streams associated with the workstation; uponreceiving the request to review the previously stored audio recording,retrieving from a storage system: (a) the plurality of independentlystored data streams that are associated with the workstation, and (b)recording mixer settings that are associated with the workstation,wherein the recording mixer settings comprise level settings associatedwith each of the retrieved data streams for mixing the retrieved datastreams together; reconstructing the stored audio recording by mixingeach of the retrieved data streams into a mixed data stream at the levelspecified by the recording mixer settings, wherein the mixed data streamis substantially similar to an original data stream that was previouslyheard in real-time by a user of the workstation; and transferring themixed data stream from the server to the workstation to play back whatthe user of the workstation previously heard in real-time.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the audio recording is stored on the storagesystem by at least creating an independent copy of each data stream inreal time as the data stream is being routed to the workstation, andstoring the independent copy to avoid superfluous copies of the datastream.
 15. The system of claim 14, wherein the memory further comprisesinstructions which when executed by the processor cause the system tocreate a transient copy of the independent copy that is compressed andforwarded to the storage system.
 16. The system of claim 14, wherein thememory further comprises instructions which when executed by theprocessor cause the system to store unique mixed recorder settings ateach of a plurality of workstations.
 17. The system of claim 13, whereinthe system does not include a computer-telephony integration (CTI) link.18. The system of claim 13, wherein the system includes acomputer-telephony integration (CTI) link.